That Girl
by xxblondieblueeyes
Summary: After witnessing her fiancée cheat on her, Caroline Forbes makes a sudden decision to turn her life around. Now that she is independent, she soon realizes that she may not have what it takes to live on her own. With a help of a good friend, she finds herself living with three hot housemates and one of them seems to be so drawn to her.
1. Chapter 1

It was an exciting yet tiring day for Caroline Forbes. She was on her way back to New York after organising a charity event in Chicago. She was returning 3 days earlier than planned and she couldn't wait to surprise her fiancée. They hadn't seen each other in weeks because Caroline was busy planning the said event. She was groggy, tired and had been missing sleep but she wouldn't let that hinder her from seeing her fiancée, Tyler. She missed him so much and she figured that her little surprise would make up for her absence.

Her plane landed in LaGuardia airport at 10 am; she couldn't deny feeling anxious about seeing Tyler again. She wanted to savor the surprised look on Tyler's face when he sees her. In order to surprise Tyler she bought a fresh set of lingerie and had decided to wear nothing but that underneath her trench coat. She giggled at the thought of her being kinky, she was normally not that type of girl and this was one of the first times she was about to do something daring. So she put her sunglasses on and walked towards the exit of the airport, where she immediately hailed a cab. A few minutes from now she was sure she would be having the best sex of her life with the best man on earth.

Caroline arrived at her and Tyler's apartment. She was really nervous, but excited at the same time. As she went up the elevator she was thinking about the best way to reveal her surprise. When she reached their appartement she quickly grabbed her key and opened the door. Upon entering she immediately felt something was off, her gut was telling her to postpone the surprise and just make a run for it, but she went against her instincts and proceeded to their room. Just as she was nearing her destination she heard moans from a female and grunts from a man. She immediately dismissed the possibility that her fiancée was in bed with another woman, instead she figured that he probably was just watching porn again and he forgot to wear headphones.

She briefly wondered if she should really barge in on whatever her fiancée was doing. She wanted to prove her gut wrong and that everything was absolutely fine so without hesitating further she opened the door. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene behind the door. A brunette woman was on top of her fiancée and they were both so passionate about whatever they were doing. Caroline just stood there in disbelief not bothering to say a word, she even felt like she was disturbing them.

It took a few minutes before Tyler noticed her standing there and once he saw her he immediately pushed the woman off him and gestured for her to leave. The woman scrambled out of bed and grabbed her clothes, putting them on as fast as she was able to so she could get out and let the couple deal with their own drama. The woman left within seconds.

Once she was gone Tyler approached Caroline who was still frozen in shock, tears streaming down her face.

"Caroline, I didn't know you would be back this early." Tyler said as he put on a shirt and some boxers.

"Seriously! I caught you sleeping with another woman and that's what you're going to tell me?" Caroline yelled as she tried to push Tyler, who was now approaching her, away.

"Look Caroline, it's not what you think." Tyler replied as he tried to go near the crying blonde.

"Get away from me Tyler! There's nothing to talk about!" Caroline yelled again as she began gathering all her things.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked as he watched Caroline packing her bags.

"I'm leaving." Caroline calmly said while she grabbed the rest of her clothes.

"You can't do that! We're getting married." Tyler protested as he tried to snatch the bag Caroline was filling up with clothes.

Caroline just glared at him. After witnessing him sleep with another woman he expected her to be okay with it. There was no way she was going to let Tyler push her around. It was about time she stood up for herself.

Caroline continued to stare at Tyler while she watched him take her bags and insisted on her staying to straighten things out. She grabbed the expensive diamond ring off her ring finger and threw it in his direction.

"No Tyler, no chance in hell." Caroline calmly said as she grabbed all her things and made her way to the door.

Tyler was shocked. He immediately grabbed the ring and ran after Caroline. "Look Care, I'm sorry."

"Sorry you got caught or sorry you did it?" Caroline asked as she held the door open for him.

Tyler couldn't say a word and just stared at Caroline. He was guilty but he was too sure of himself to be exactly sorry. His brunette companion was able to satisfy his manly needs while Caroline was too busy with her new job. What happened between him and the brunette was nothing in his eyes but he didn't want to lie to Caroline anymore so he decided to not answer her question.

"That's what I thought. Goodbye Tyler." Caroline sighed before slamming the door in Tyler's face.

Caroline hailed a cab while she tried her best to suppress her urge to cry. Once inside the cab she couldn't handle it anymore and just started crying. In-between sobs she told the driver to take her to Williamsburg. She was still in shock about what happened between her and Tyler. They had been going out since their senior year and she couldn't believe he would just throw away their 6 years together. They were going to get married for god's sake!

Caroline was scared. She was alone now. She was used to Tyler always being by her side and paying everything for her. Now that she was no longer with him, how on earth will she survive? Sure she has a job, she's an assistant planner at Fangs Agency, but she only took the job because she didn't want to spend all her life as a housewife. With her current savings and salary, she was sure that she would not be able to afford renting her own place. The only idea she had at the moment was to stay with her best friend who was busy struggling on her own.

Caroline arrived at her destination. It was a small yet somehow decent apartment in Williamsburg. She decided that she was going to stay with her friend Katherine for a short while until she was able to find her own place to live in. Kat was a good friend of hers but when they decided to go to college in New York, Kat's parents disowned her and now she was living on her own. Katherine was now working as an associate at a prestigious law firm but she was still struggling with her student debts.

Caroline knocked a few times before Katherine opened the door.

"Caroline? You're home early." Katherine said as she gestured to her friend to come inside. She immediately noticed Caroline's runny nose and red eyes, plus all the extra baggage Caroline was carrying. "Care, is everything alright?"

Caroline continued to sob as she placed her things in the living room. Once she was settled she went up to Katherine and started bawling her eyes out.

"Care, what's wrong?" Katherine asked once again as she tried to calm the crying blonde.

"It's Tyler. He cheated on me." Caroline finally said as she tried to wipe the tears streaming down her face.

Katherine gestured for Caroline to sit down on the couch and immediately grabbed her coat before heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Caroline asked, Katherine's actions surprised her.

"I'm going to kick his ass Caroline." Katherine said as she grabbed the rest of her things.

"Don't… He's not worth it." Caroline replied while she desperately tried to refrain from crying.

"He hurt you Caroline, I'm not going to let him get away with that." Katherine said and sat down next to the crying blonde, calming her down once again.

"I just don't know what to do anymore Kat." Caroline sobbed. She buried her face in Katherine's shoulders.

"Listen, you're going to be fine Caroline. You'll get through this; think of it as a sign that you should start living your life independently." Katherine said as she slowly lifted Caroline's head from her shoulder and handed her a handkerchief.

"Look, I have to get to work in a few minutes, I'll make you some tea and afterwards you should try to sleep it off. When I get home we'll talk about this, okay?" Katherine offered while she made her way to the kitchen to make her best friend some tea.

"Thank you Katherine," Caroline finally smiled and wiped the last remaining tears from her eyes.

As soon as Katherine left for work Caroline changed into something more comfortable and finished her tea. She was feeling drowsy again but she thought that she would not be able to sleep. But as soon as she lay down on Katherine's bed she immediately dozed off.

Caroline slept so long that when she woke up Katherine was already home. Caroline stood up and saw her friend unpacking some dinner for the both of them.

"I hope you like Chinese." Katherine said, handing her a box of canton and a pair of chopsticks.

"You didn't have to go through all this trouble Kat." Caroline quietly sat down on one of the dining chairs.

"Caroline, I'm your best friend. Of course I have to go through all these trouble." Katherine laughed.

"I really owe you one. Thank you so much." Caroline said, finally starting to eat her food.

Once they finished their dinner Caroline offered to take care of their mess and told Katherine to take a warm shower. Caroline knew her best friend was tired and exhausted from taking care of her, she felt this was the only thing she could do for her friend right now. Once she was done with the dishes she sat down on the sofa and flipped through the channels on TV looking for something good to watch. When Katherine finished her shower she approached her friend who was desperately trying not to cringe while watching Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

"Okay, you don't have to watch that. Let's talk." Katherine said as she took the remote from Caroline and turned off the television. "I got you some ice cream to ease the pain."

"I don't want to talk about Tyler anymore. I realized I'm done with him and you were right. It's time for me to live independently." Caroline smiled and took a giant scoop from the pint of ice cream.

"Well, that's good to hear. Tyler was always holding you back and he has always been too possessive with you." Katherine said trying to comfort her friend just in case Caroline had another break down. "I also have some good news."

"Unless it's about Tyler or his slut getting ran over by a herd ofcattle then I don't think I'm interested right now." Caroline said, taking another scoop of ice cream.

"Hear me out Care, I think I found you a place to live in." Katherine said while she took out an advertisement from her purse.

"Are you getting tired of me already?" Caroline chuckled. "Tell me about it."

"Well, I asked my fellow associate if she knows a cheap place to rent out. And she told me her best friend owns a boarding house in Long Island. They're looking for lodgers." Katherine said as she held out the brochure for Caroline to see.

"You want me to live in a boarding house?" Caroline raised her eyebrow.

"The agency you're working for is located at Long Island right? I passed by the place a few times, it isn't so bad. It's cheap as well! You can stay there for a few months until you get back on your feet." Katherine encouraged her friend.

Caroline took the brochure from Katherine and stared at it. The place wasn't so bad and her friend was right, it was closer to her work so she'd be able to save a lot of money, plus she won't have such a long commute anymore. She sighed; she didn't want to be a burden to Katherine so she figured she would give the place a shot.

"Alright, I'll check the place out tomorrow." Caroline finally gave in and kept the leaflet.

"Great! I'll tell Lexi to set up an appointment with you. I forgot to mention that the owners of the place are really hot, so make sure to put yourself out there okay!" Katherine replied as she hugged her best friend good night and left her staring blankly into space.

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**Author's note: This is a new story that I've been planning to write for a long time and here it is finally! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, please don't forget to review and share the story if you liked it. Also, I'd like to thank Lotheriel for being my beta. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the long wait but here it is! I'd like to thank PixieKindOfCrazy for being my beta! **

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Caroline took the train to Long Island just to visit the boarding house that she might be living in for the next few months. She couldn't deny that she was feeling nervous about meeting with the owners and lodgers; she had always been a people pleaser and she had no way to know if they'd like her. Not to mention her excessive need for control. Even though it never crossed her mind to live in a boarding house, she needs to impress everyone because she's desperate to get herself her own place.

As soon as she reached Long Island, she immediately hailed a taxi to reach her destination. For some reason, she seemed to be good at catching cabs. Maybe it was just because the cabbies liked blondes…

But the cab ride wasn't as long as she thought it would be and before she could find herself dozing off for a short nap, she was already in front of the Salvatore boarding house. When she got off the cab she couldn't keep herself from admiring the feat of architecture that was in front of her; the place looked more like a really old, well kept museum than a house. She was amazed at the view of the Victorian style designs. It wasn't exactly her style, but it was very admirable and she couldn't help but fall in love with the place already. She was determined to impress the owner and hopefully she could move in as soon as possible. As Caroline was engrossed with her surroundings a deep voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Excuse me, how may I help you?" The inquiring voice asked.

"Oh sorry, I'm Caroline. I have an appointment for the vacant room." Caroline said focusing her attention to the direction of the voice.

"Hello Caroline. We've been expecting you, come on in." The voice- which she could now see belonged to a handsome man with a kind smile- said opening the door for Caroline and gesturing her to follow him inside. "I'm Stefan, Damon's brother. We have a few things to discuss before talking with you so feel free to make yourself at home here in the living room." Stefan added before he made his way to the kitchen.

Caroline did as she was told and took her seat at one of the couches in the living room. While she was waiting, she continued to survey her surroundings. The inside of the boarding house was a bit eerie because there was hardly color in any of the furniture and the ceilings were covered in expensive chandeliers. But despite the eeriness of the place, there was still something classy about it and she couldn't wait to see the rest of house. Stefan interrupted her thoughts again as he came back to the living room carrying a tea set.

"I hope you like tea." Stefan smiled as he placed the tray he holding on the coffee table in front of Caroline. "I'll just go get my brother upstairs and we'll start in a bit."

Caroline returned the smile and just nodded before pouring herself a cup of tea. After a few more minutes of waiting, the brothers finally marched their way downstairs. Caroline couldn't help but admire the two men approaching her; Katherine was right she needs to put herself out there.

Once both men were within her reach, she quickly stood up from her seat and extended a hand to the person next to Stefan.

"Hello, you must be Damon. I'm Caroline I talked to you on the phone yesterday about the room." Caroline rambled without thinking, still extending her arm for a handshake.

Damon just chuckled at her actions and words. "Yes, the pleasure is all mine Caroline. No need to be all formal blondie, you're probably going to be living here soon anyway."

Caroline blushed at the thought of her actions and immediately sat down. She wanted to mentally slap herself after acting so flustered in front of the two brothers. She couldn't help but feel so attracted to the men in front of her, after all Tyler was the only person she had ever really had a physical relationship with.

As soon as the two brothers sat down, Stefan initiated the short interview.

"So Caroline, my friend Lexi recommended you to be our lodger, what's your relationship to her?" Stefan asked while he poured himself a cup of tea.

"I've known Lexi for awhile, she went to law school with someone I know and now she's my best friend's coworker. We hang out sometimes." Caroline answered as casually as she could.

"Well that's good to know. Now what do you do for a living?" Stefan asked again, but his brother interrupted him.

"Stefan, didn't I just say there is no need to be formal. Caroline you're a beautiful lady that is enough for us to let you to live here. The question is, are you single?" Damon bluntly asked.

Caroline choked on her tea after Damon's question. She knew it was just a simple question, but the way Damon had asked her caught her off guard. It was a personal subject and yet he acted so insensitive about it, like he was asking what her favorite color was. She realized she was being a bit over timid, which was unlike her in most other areas so she tried for a smile, but knew her voice would come out a little nervous, "Uhh yeah, I'm single."

"Alright there you have it. You can move in anytime now. Just be sure to give your down payment by the end of the week. Stefan will show you around." Damon said as he grabbed his leather jacket and made his way to the door.

After Damon left, she decided to help Stefan clean up the coffee table in the living room. It was her house now too, after all; she might as well help clean. They were both quiet at first since Caroline was still shock as to how her appointment ended. She was happy she got to live here now, but their standard of accepting lodgers confused her. What if they randomly hired a serial killer because she was pretty? Before Caroline could sink further in her thoughts, Stefan finally broke the silence.

"Sorry about my brother. He can be a bit obnoxious at times." Stefan said while he placed the cups back in the cupboard.

"It's alright. I'm just really happy I can live here." Caroline answered with a small smile.

"Come on, I'll give you a tour and I'll show you my room." Stefan said as he approached the blonde and gestured him to follow her.

After Stefan showed her the whole boarding house and all its wonders- including an in housemovie room- he headed to the bedrooms to show her where she'd be staying herself. Caroline can't help but feel like the whole place is a giant bachelor's pad from the early 70s. Despite the interior design, Caroline couldn't deny that the brothers have impeccable taste, everything looked so expensive.

"So here's your room. You can actually move in later if you want." Stefan said while unlocking the door for Caroline.

"Thank you. I just might grab my stuff later." Caroline chuckled before she stepped inside her new room.

"I'll give you time to admire your space, see where you want to place your things once you move in. I'll come back after a bit." Stefan said politely before leaving Caroline and her room some time.

Caroline couldn't help but admire the size of her room. It had a lot of space, almost too much for all of her things. But it also had a cozy feel to it and the bed had the just right amount of softness. She couldn't wait to finally move in and fill it up with her things, make it her own . a lot more purple. She was already considering going shopping before she retrieves her things from Katherine's apartment. As she was envisioning in her head how to decorate her room, there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, hope you don't mind me interrupting your daydreaming," he grinned," But I thought it'd be a good time to give you our house rules." Stefan said entering Caroline's room and sitting at the other corner of the bed.

"Yeah sure, tell me the dos and don'ts." Caroline smiled and gave out a small chuckle.

"It's just basic roommate / housemate rules. Pay the rent on or before your due date, label your own groceries and when you have a special someone over leave this sign in front of your door so we don't walk in on you." Stefan said and laughed at his last rule. "So, what is it that you do Caroline?"

"I'm an assistant at a party planning agency. It's just outside the neighbourhood which is why this place was my top pick for housing." Caroline answered.

"Well that's interesting, if ever I want to throw a good party I can count on you right?" Stefan joked and at the same time trying to break the ice.

"Of course, my services are very open for you, Mr. Salvatore!" Caroline joked back.

She hoped he wouldn't notice how wrong he could take that. He didn't.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but Lexi mentioned that you were with someone. As much as possible, my brother and I try avoid lodgers who are seeing anyone; you know how jealous people can get." Stefan asked breaking the comfortable exchange of jokes and chuckles.

"I was with someone, but not anymore. I don't want to burden you and your brother." Caroline calmly answered and also assured Stefan that she was telling the truth.

"Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have asked. Anyway, your friend's apartment is in the city right? I'm actually on my way there do you need a ride?" Stefan asked dropping the subject about Caroline's past relationship.

Caroline just nodded and thanked Stefan politely. She followed him as they made their way to his car. But before Caroline went down the stairs she noticed that in the bedroom area, there were 4 more rooms next to hers. The first two rooms obviously belonged to Stefan and Damon and the mystery goes to the other two. If she was going to live with two other people, she wanted to get to know them as a sign of courtesy.

"Oh hey Stefan. Who owns these two other rooms?" Caroline said as she pointed her finger towards the direction of the two other rooms.

"Yeah we have another housemate but he's visiting his family in Wales. He'll be back tonight. Me and Damon will pick him up. Will you be okay on your own for your first night here?" Stefan said.

"Wait… so there are no other females here?!" Caroline over reacted. She felt kind of intimated living under the same roof with three men, two of which were extremely attractive.

"Well, our other housemate's sister stays here a few times. You two will probably get along. You're starting to remind me a bit of her." Stefan said after laughing at Caroline's hysterical reaction.

"Oh whatever, let's just go!" Caroline said as she stormed out to the driveway, embarrassed.

The drive to the city was pretty quiet. Both Caroline and Stefan were only listening to the music coming from the radio. Caroline wasn't really used to being quiet but ever since her breakup with Tyler she'd hadn't been acting quite like herself.

"Where's your friend's apartment?" Stefan asked once again breaking the silence between them.

"Williamsburg." Caroline answered and she couldn't help but notice Stefan raising his brow after mentioning where she had been staying over the past few days. "What?"

"Sorry, I didn't peg you as a Williamsburg girl." Stefan apologised.

"Well it's been a really tough week and Williamsburg isn't so bad. Katherine is nice enough for letting me stay with her." Caroline defended.

"What happened? I know you don't have to tell me but we'll be living together now and I just want you to know that I can help you." Stefan said and assured the fuming blonde.

Caroline just stared at Stefan and gave out a sigh. He was right, they were going to be living together and it would be best to let him know something about her. "I caught my fiancée cheating on me."

"Oh… I'm really sorry Caroline. I'm not the best comforter in the world so uhh, how does crashing his place sound?" Stefan apologized again and he tried to lighten up his companion's mood.

"It's okay. Thanks for the offer but I'm okay now. After the breakup I realized how imprisoned I was with him. I spent 6 years of my life depending on him and it's about time I learn to live on my own." Caroline calmly said as she flashed Stefan a tiny smile.

"You're going to be fine Caroline." Stefan said after they reached Katherine's apartment.

Katherine was out for work when Caroline entered her apartment. Caroline left out a note for Katherine to see, informing her that she was moving in the boarding house tonight. Caroline promised Katherine she'd be treating her to a dinner of her choice as a sign of her gratitude. Stefan accompanied Caroline inside the apartment and waited for her to finishing packing her things. Caroline didn't have much because some of her stuff was still at Tyler's. She couldn't wait to barge into his apartment one last time to claim the rest of her belongings. Once she was all set and done packing, Stefan helped her carry her things and hailed her a cab.

"You sure you don't want me to drive you back home?" Stefan asked once again.

"I'll be fine Stefan, remember I'm trying to be independent. But thank you, I'll see you later." Caroline chuckled before she waved Stefan goodbye and closed the door.

As soon as Caroline got back to the boarding house she quickly grabbed the keys Stefan gave her and ran upstairs to her room. She began unpacking her things and decorating her room. She also made a list of things she'll be needing for her new place and the things she need to retrieve from Tyler's lair. She chuckled at her mental-wording. After several hours of unpacking, decorating and listing, Caroline grew tired and decided to have a short nap. However her short nap ended up being 5 hours long and when she woke up it was already dark. Caroline glanced at her clocked and noticed that it was already past 7pm. She quickly got up as she felt her hunger and made her way to the living room to order some take out. As she was on her way back to her room she heard noises coming from the Salvatore's media room. She remembered what Stefan told her earlier that day, _will you be okay on your first night here alone. _Immediately Caroline figured it out that it was neither Stefan nor Damon so she grew worried. She grabbed one of the Salvatore's golf clubs and made her way to the media room, if this was a burglar she was definitely prepared.

When she opened the door to the media room, she saw a man flipping through the different television channels aimlessly. The man heard the creak of the door and glanced towards Caroline's direction. Once he saw the beautiful blonde, he turned off the television and walked towards Caroline.

"Hello love, I see you have fallen to the charms of one of the Salvatore brothers. That's a shame. Which one is it?" The man said with his thick and sexy British accent.

Caroline gulped and placed the golf club away. It was impossible to think of this guy as a serial killer or a burglar with the way he addresses the owners of the boarding house.

"I don't understand." Caroline just answered back.

"I'm assuming you're with Damon then, that bastard always has a way of making the ladies forget." The stranger chuckled.

"No, I'm not with Damon." Caroline yelped in disgust.

"Stefan then? I didn't know he was into blondes now." The stranger laughed once again.

"What are you talking about? I'm not with anyone!" Caroline yelled.

"My apologies. But if you're not with the Salvatores, what brings you into this creepy old boarding house sweetheart?" The stranger asked in a seductive tone that weakened Caroline's knees more than she'd like to admit.

"I just moved here." Caroline answered quietly, flashing offended eyes at the blonde man.

"Well that is interesting. I'm Nik, your fellow housemate." Nik said as he chuckled and offered a hand for Caroline to shake.

_Well that was a great start to my stay_, she thought as her eyes unconsciously scanned the extremely handsome man smirking at her.

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**And that's it for this chapter. I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who followed, favorited and reviewed this story it really means a lot to me. If you have any suggestions or criticisms please let me know as I will try my best to improve my stories for your delight. Also a little bit of a shameless plug, you can also find me on tumblr .com **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **I extremely apologised for the long wait. I've been really busy with school and I had a really bad case of mental block. But all is well now as I finally updated this story! I hope you guys like it and hopefully all the unnecessary wait will be worth it. So I'll stop talking now and let you enjoy this chapter.

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Caroline shook Nik's hand nervously. The man just introduced himself as her housemate but she was still worried if he was telling the truth. She let go of the man's hand immediately and tried her best to make her way back to the living room.

"Hold on a second, I didn't get your name." Nik said before blocking her from exiting the door.

"Oh yeah, sorry! I'm Caroline." She answered, hoping he would stop asking questions and leave her alone.

"I'm looking for a good movie to watch, why don't you join me?" Nik asked, desperately trying to persuade the blonde.

"I'm actually really tired since I just moved here this afternoon. If you'll excuse me,I'm going to order take out. Caroline calmly said before pushing Nik away shyly as he was blocking the doorway.

"Take out? I'll join you." Nik said while following the blonde.

It took them awhile to figure out what they both wanted. Caroline was craving for Thai food while Nik was insisting on ordering Chinese instead. Caroline was trying to control her temper, the man in front of her couldn't take a hint. She didn't want to spend any more time with Nik until Stefan or Damon assured her that he was indeed her other housemate.

After several minutes of constant bickering and arguing they finally decided to settle for pizza instead. Pizza was far from either of their first choice but they planned to save a few slices for the Salvatore brothers. As if on cue, Damon and Stefan barged in through the front door fuming in anger.

"I'll kill him!" Damon yelled as he rushed into the living room looking for someone.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked nervously, all the while staring at her companion in the kitchen.

"I think this is my cue to retreat to my bedroom, it was a pleasure meeting you Caroline." Nik said before grabbing a plate for his pizza and making a run for his bedroom.

"Where do you think you're going?" A familiar voice said as he took the pizza from Nik's plate.

"Stefan! Thank god you're finally here! Please, tell me what's going on." Caroline said in relief as she approached a brooding Stefan.

"I see you met our infamous housemate Nik, Caroline. It's best to keep your distance from him." Stefan said calmly. "And you, we've been waiting for you at the airport for 4 hours. You didn't even have the decency to give us a call to let us know that you took an earlier flight!" Stefan yelled in Nik's direction.

"Let bygones be bygones Stefan, and don't use that tone in front of our new housemate. You might scare her away." Nik replied as he slowly shoved Stefan away.

"Seriously you guys?! It's my first night here and everyone's fighting already?" Caroline intervened.

"Ah blondie, while we were out waiting for this bastard you already knew he was home and you didn't even bother to give us a call." Damon said, entering the kitchen with a bottle of bourbon.

"Leave her out of this, Damon." Snatching the whiskey bottle away from his brother, Stefan succeeded in drawing his attention away from Caroline.

"It's okay Stefan. I live here too; I deserve to know what's going on around you guys." Caroline said calmly.

"Well first of all, we promised Nik's siblings that we'd look out him while he's here in New York. We all agreed that we'd pick him up. However this asshole took an earlier flight without informing anyone and we spent an entire night waiting and looking for him. Damon's pissed 'cause he missed out on a big date." Stefan's voice was filled with tension and anger.

"Blondie doesn't need to hear any of this Stefan. Caroline, just go up to your room and let the men handle the problem" Damon retorted.

"Fine. Have it your way. But by tomorrow morning I expect you guys to have fixed whatever issues you have with each other." Caroline gave the three men her signature death glare.

"Well, someone's a control freak." Damon did nothing to hide his smirk.

"Seriously Damon? Is that how you treat your housemates?" Nik yelled.

Before Caroline could witness three of her housemates fight to the death she decided to lock herself up in her room. As much as she wanted her housemates to ease up on their tension towards each other, she suspected that this would not end well. Instead, she decided to get ready for bed and hoped that her housemates would have settled their problems before the night was over. While enjoying a warm shower before sleeping, she could still hear the bickering of the three men downstairs, interrupted only by the occasional shattered glass. Just to make sure everyone was still alive and breathing, Caroline decided to take a peek at what they were doing. As if nothing had ever happened a few hours ago, Caroline watched the three men sharing drinks together, laughing and talking. Caroline just shook her head. _I'm never going to understand men. _After making sure that her housemates finally fixed their issue, she decided it was time for her to go to bed.

They left Damon to sleep on the couch after he was not able to handle his alcohol, fearing that if they woke up him up it might cause another outburst. Before heading up into their separate bedrooms, Stefan cornered Nik.

"What do you think of her?" Stefan asked, sipping the last few drops of his bourbon.

"The girl upstairs? Seems Alright." Nik responded. He tried his best to hide his interest in the blonde knowing that it will only anger his friend.

"Alright means more to you Nik, do me a favor and stay away from her." Stefan threatened.

"I get it, you fancy her." Nik rolled his eyes.

"It's not that, I'm just saying, Caroline's a nice girl and she's been through enough." Stefan chuckled, immediately noticing the jealousy in Nik's tone.

"Why, what happened to her?" Nik asked.

"Her fiancée cheated on her. It's only been a week since the incident and I'm just worried how she is keeping it all together." Stefan sighed.

"What are you implying on me then?" Nik hissed, raising his tone and furrowing his brow.

"You know how you are. Caroline is in a vulnerable place right now and she might make rash decisions. If you make a move on her she might expect more from you, I know you're just going to disappoint her. And like I said, she seems like a nice girl I actually want to keep her around as our housemate."

"Do you really think that low of me?" Nik joked, laughing at his friend's concern for the blonde.

"Seriously Nik. Just don't do anything stupid." Stefan reminded.

Stefan's word still rang in Nik's head. He despised Caroline's ex – fiancée for cheating on her and the fact that his friend was able to read him so well. It was true he was attracted to Caroline. He wanted to devour her the second he saw her in the media room. But after finding out her back-story he felt like he needed to back away from her. It annoyed him why he would actually care about her feelings.

When he felt the effect of the alcohol in his system, Nik decided it was time for him to go to bed. If he sat there and kept on drinking he was afraid of what he might do to their new companion. He immediately got up not even bothering to clean up his mess and went straight to his bedroom. As he grabbed his keys and opened his bedroom door, he heard a few cries coming from the opposite side of the hallway. He noticed the cries were coming from Caroline's bedroom. He was thinking of coming in and comforting her, but Stefan's words haunted him. He wasn't going to do anything stupid. He just wanted to comfort her but he would probably make it worse as the only female he tried to comfort was his sister and that only ended into his sister crying more. Nik decided to allow her to cry on her own and he'll try to make it up to her discreetly tomorrow morning. When he went inside his room he tried his best to ignore the cries, he was thankful he was intoxicated if he wasn't he probably won't be able to fall asleep.

* * *

Caroline woke up to the sound of her alarm. Her first night in the boarding house was terrible. Her housemates fought and she found herself waking up in the middle of the night crying. As much as she hated Tyler for breaking her heart, she still missed him terribly. Sure they fought like regular couples but somewhere in those 6 years she knew that Tyler cared and loved her, and she missed all of that.

She tried her best to ignore the thoughts and quickly got up. Today was the first day of going back to her job after her trip to Chicago. She'd rather stay and wallow inside her new bedroom but she knew she needed to attend to her job. After all she needed the money for her share of the rent.

Getting ready was not as slow as Caroline imagined and before she knew it she was already downstairs, making her way to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Entering the the kitchen she immediately saw a familiar blonde figure cooking and the smell of bacon filled the room. The familiar figure turned around after hearing the sound of heels coming towards the kitchen.

"Good morning love, I made you some breakfast. Take it as my welcoming present." The blonde man smirked.

"Thank you, Nik. I'm actually really hungry." Caroline said trying to hide the grumble of her tummy. "Where are Stefan and Damon?" Caroline asked noticing that Nik only cooked for two.

"They left early for work." Nik said before handing her a plate of bacon and a glass of orange juice.

"Damon works?" Caroline chuckled.

"You'd be surprise. Damon owns an accounting firm he may not look like it, but he's a hardworking man." Nik assured also letting out a small laugh.

"If he's so loaded why does he bother living in a boarding house with strangers?" Caroline asked suspiciously.

"Damon doesn't really live here, he just checks out the place from time to time. He owns a condo in the city but he prefers staying here since the city is too busy for him. And he's pretty sentimental about this place too." Nik answered.

"Oh. What about Stefan?" Caroline asked again.

"He's a volunteer at numerous NGOs in New York. He lives here because he spent most of his trust fund in helping the less fortunate." Klaus answered again obviously rolling his eyes at his friend's kindness.

"And what about you? What do you do?" Caroline asked after taking a sip from her orange juice.

"Me? I'm a Teflon slacker." Nik arrogantly said while he chuckled and smirked at the blonde in front of him.

"Fascinating." Caroline said rolling her eyes. "Well, thank you so much for breakfast. I should head over to work now, I'll see you tonight." Caroline said as she stood up from her seat and walked towards the front door.

"Wait, Stefan mentioned something about your office being outside the neighborhood, I'm actually on my way there, I can give you a ride." Nik said while he chased after her.

"Uhm, yeah sure thanks." Caroline awkwardly replied.

* * *

The ride to Caroline's office was pretty quiet. Nik was thankful that Caroline wasn't one of those girls who rambled but then again he thinks that the only reason why she was quiet was because of her crying last night. _I guess bacon is not a logical solution_, Nik thought.

Thankfully, Caroline's office wasn't as far as Nik thought. As much as he wanted to spend time with Caroline, he badly wanted to get away from this awkward silence.

"Thanks for the ride, see you at home." Caroline said flashing Nik a smile before going down the car.

"Oh Caroline, if need a ride going back just give me a call and I'll pick you up." Nik offered.

"Thank you but I have to pass, I'll be fine on my own." Caroline said accidentally slamming the door shut in Nik's face.

* * *

The first week of Caroline's stay in the boarding house ended out being all right. Her work wasn't as stressful as it was months before and her housemates have been awfully nice to her. Nik always offered to give her rides going to work while Stefan picked her up. As much as she was thankful for the kindness of her housemates, she didn't want to depend on them. After all her idea of moving in with them was all about her living on her own.

It was her first Friday night in the boarding house and Caroline just wanted to keep the Mediaroom to herself and have a marathon of her favorite television series. She went downstairs hoping to make herself a giant bowl of popcorn and hopefully her housemates wouldn't disturb her. When she reached the living room she saw her three housemates dressed in fancy clothes and they were all looking fresh, definitely ready to go have some fun on a Friday night.

"Well aren't you guys all dressed up. What's the occasion?" Caroline asked curiously and desperately tried not to admire her three hot housemates.

"It's Friday night blondie, don't expect us to wallow in pit of misery while there are lonely single ladies waiting for us in the club." Damon arrogantly answered.

"We usually go out on Friday nights, just for kicks." Stefan chuckled and flashed Caroline a wink.

"You're more than welcome to join us sweetheart." Nik offered and he received glare from both Stefan and Damon.

"Oh no, I don't want to bother your plans on getting lucky tonight. I just want to stay at home." Caroline nervously declined.

"Come on love, it's a Friday night. Take a chance." Nik insisted.

Caroline paused and thought about Nik's offer. The two weeks of her life have been rough and she was sure that she was still hung up on Tyler. Going out tonight might help her ease the pain and maybe she could give rebound sex a try. She wasn't that type of girl but she still has needs that needed to be satisfied by the opposite sex. Without giving much thought, Caroline agreed to Nik's offer.

"Alright, I'll come with. Can I invite a friend though?" Caroline asked.

"Of course you can, now go upstairs and get ready. We'll wait for you here." Nik answered and flashed her his famous smirk.

* * *

A/N: I would personally like to thank Lotheriel and klarolinedrabbles for taking their time to beta this story! Also to all you readers who still read/reviewed/favorited/followed this story, it really means a lot to me and it motivates me to write more. Rest assured that the next chapter is in the works and you guys will not wait that long.

I'll also address some of the reviews I've been getting. A lot of you have been saying that this reminds you of Fox's hit show, New Girl. While I do admit that the whole concept of roommates came from the show, I assure you that the flow and dynamics of the story will be very different :)

So I guess that's it for this chapter, many thanks again to all of you! You can find me on tumblr as xxblondieblueeyes and twitter as well under the username of teenurweenur. See you again on the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **This story finally reached 100+ follows and 40 reviews and that means a lot to me so here's an early update for everyone. Thank you so much for taking your time to read this story, I hope you guys will like this chapter! Thanks to Marsterroo for being my beta!

* * *

"Seriously, Nik, didn't I tell you to stay away." Stefan said as soon as Caroline was already upstairs getting ready for their night out.

"Now, I think you're just being selfish here, Stefan. What's so wrong about inviting Caroline out tonight?" Nik asked, staring at himself in front of the mirror fixing his hair.

"Don't even try to deny it! When did you ever bother cooking for a girl? Or how you wake up early in the morning, just so you can drive her outside the neighborhood." Stefan yelled.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the black sheep fancies the blonde." Damon smirked.

"I don't know what any of you are talking about. What's so malicious about making our new housemate feel at home?" He questioned, ignoring the statement of the two Salvatore brothers.

"I'm guessing your plan for tonight is to get her intoxicated, invite her over to your room and then you'll leave her alone because you finally got what you wanted." The younger Salvatore said in disgust.

"You're making assumptions, Stefan. She deserves to have some fun and she's inviting a friend over." Nik argued.

Stefan didn't bother to argue anymore. If Nik was planning on making a move on Caroline he will try his best to subtly forfeit his moves. It's not that he has feelings for the fellow blonde but over the days of getting to know her, he treated her like his own sister and only wants what is best for her. So far, the idea of Nik and her together is far off from what Stefan thinks is best. Nik was his friend and knowing him, he will just end up hurting Caroline.

He just shrugged his thoughts away and patiently waited for their blonde companion to come down. The three men decided to wait for Caroline in the media room instead to ease their boredom. At first the only sound to be heard was the noise coming from the television, but after awhile the sounds of Damon's complaints became louder than the TV.

After a few more minutes, Caroline finally came into the media room all set and ready to have some fun. She was wearing a typical tight black dress that hugged all of her curves.

Nik found her absolutely ravishing but he had to keep it subtle so that he won't infuriate the Salvatore brothers. Before he could even give Caroline the simplest form of compliment, Stefan interrupted his thoughts.

"I was thinking you might've bailed on us. You looked great, Care." Stefan said extending his arm for Caroline to hold on.

"This little thing? Oh, I just grabbed it from my closet," Caroline laughed.

"Enough of this. Come on, let's get going. The ladies are waiting." Damon interrupted the duo before gesturing them to get a move on.

"So which club are we going to?" Caroline asked.

"It's a newly opened one; Damon's been waiting for this day for months. I think it's called, Limelight, or something like that." Stefan said while he was helping Caroline get inside the car.

"Oh, I know that one! Kat has been talking about it for a long time too, she'll be so excited." Caroline enthusiastically replied.

"Guess you and your friend owe me, I can get all of us in and out." Damon arrogantly said.

Caroline just ignored Damon's comments and got inside the car with Stefan's help. She sat near the window next to Stefan who was sitting next to Nik. She could feel the tension between the two men, thankfully Damon tried to lighten up the mood in his own little way.

"So nice of you to join us tonight, Caroline, it's nice to have a lady companion on a boy's night out." Damon smirked while he turned on the engine and started driving.

"Well I got, Nik, to thank you for that. If it wasn't for him inviting me, I probably would've stayed at home." Caroline said flashing Nik a small smile.

"Glad you didn't turn down my offer, love, wouldn't want you to spend your first Friday night all alone in the loft." Nik said, returning the smile Caroline gave him.

"Damon, how far into the city are we?" Stefan said subtlety interrupting Caroline and Nik's lingering stares.

"Jealous already baby brother? We're not even close." Damon replied.

"I was just thinking we could pick up Caroline's friend at her apartment or something?" Stefan suggested.

"Well, Blondie, where to?" Damon asked, looking at Caroline in the rearview mirror.

"Uhmm, well, she just got out of work and she told me she'll meet us there." Caroline replied.

"Good to know, now children be quiet and let me drive and we'll be there in no time!" Damon said giving the wheel back his attention.

After Damon's last statement, the ride going to the Limelight club was quiet. There were no insulting comments coming out from Damon, Stefan and Nik's hisses were also gone. The silence in the car was actually calming Caroline down. After a week of living with these three men, she thought that silence was something she could only dream about. Ever since she started living at the boarding house, the Salvatore brothers and Nik, have been bickering every time they were all together. Tonight was different and Caroline felt it. She was going to have a good time and she'll have to thank her newfound friends later on.

Damon finally parked the car after a really long drive. Caroline couldn't hide her excitement anymore as she finally got off the car. It was her first night out since her breakup with Tyler and now she was definitely going to forget everything about that mutt.

As she walked towards the club, Caroline immediately noticed how long the line was for the entrance. "The line's so long; I don't think we'll even get a chance to get inside before last call."

"Don't be a downer, Blondie, I told you I have connections here. Go find your friend and I'll get us inside." Damon responded.

Caroline searched the long line for Katherine. She was about to give up when she heard a familiar voice arguing with the club's bouncer. Caroline walked up to the direction of the argument and sighed in relief as she finally found her friend.

"Hey Kat, have you been waiting long?" Caroline said, interrupting Katherine's argument with the grumpy bouncer.

"Caroline! Thank god you're finally here. This douche here won't let me inside." Katherine complained.

Seeing that Caroline found their last companion, Damon went up to the bouncer and said the magic words. As soon as he did the bouncer opened the velvet ropes and was able to let all five of them inside. Before Caroline could even thank Damon, he was already gone chasing a poor innocent girl.

"Wow, this place is really nice. How did Damon manage to sneak us in?" Caroline asked Stefan, as she got lost in the club's ambiance.

"The owner of this club is one of Damon's drinking buddies." Stefan answered.

"That's nice." Caroline said. "Oh, by the way, how rude of me, Katherine, these are my housemates, Stefan and Nik. The one who got us in is Damon." Caroline grabbed Katherine and introduced her to the two men behind her.

"Nice to meet you. Thanks for looking out for Caroline." Katherine said as she shook the hands of Stefan and Nik.

"The pleasure is all ours; can I get you ladies a drink?" Nik offered and he immediately received a glare from Stefan.

"Don't mind if we do." Katherine enthusiastically said leading them to the bar.

Nik ordered them their drinks and sat next to Katherine and Caroline. Stefan followed after them, while getting a drink for his own.

"Thanks for the drinks, just don't give Care too much, she's a lightweight." Katherine giggled.

"Stop it, Kat, I'm not a lightweight. I can handle my alcohol." Caroline laughed with her friend.

"That was when you had Tyler by your side to take care of you and bring you home. Surely you don't want to burden your housemates?" Katherine winked at the two gentlemen next to Caroline.

"No one mention the T name okay. I came here to have fun and we're going to have fun." Caroline yelled before grabbing Katherine to dance with her on the dance floor.

"Well your plan escalated quickly." Stefan smirked, sliding down to his stool.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nik hissed before taking a sip of his bourbon.

"I know you, Nik. You bring a girl to a bar, get her drunk, do the deed and forget about her instantly. I'm not going to let you do that to Caroline." Stefan answered.

"What if I just want her to have a good time? What if I want to be her friend too Stefan?" Nik said clenching his jaws, trying to calm himself down.

Before a fight or an argument about Caroline can ensue, a frantic Katherine interrupted them.

"Have you guys seen Caroline?" Katherine asked in between her gulps.

"She was with you the whole time." Nik said getting off his seat.

"She was, until this guy swept her off the dance floor and brought her to the bar. I came along with them for a short while. This guy, he was buying me a lot of drinks he must be the wingman. I couldn't take it anymore said I had to go to the bathroom, but when I came back Caroline was gone." Katherine said as she tried to hold in all her tears. "This is my fault. I should've kept an eye on her. Caroline might be at this guy's apartment now. She's not that kind of girl; she'll never handle the guilt and shame of a one-night stand."

"Katherine was it? Calm down. We'll find Caroline and we'll bring her home. She's going to be okay." Nik assured. "Stefan, take care of her and sober her up. I'll go look for Caroline."

"No. I'll go look for Caroline. Sobering up is your specialty." Stefan argued.

But before Stefan could begin his search for Caroline, Nik already took off and he was left with an emotionally drunk Katherine.

"Here Kat. Have some water; it'll make you feel better." Stefan offered to Katherine.

"I can't leave her. She was always looking out for me." Katherine sobbed as she struggled to drink the water Stefan gave her.

"Nik is very persistent. Don't worry, he'll find Caroline." Stefan assured the drunken Katherine who was now peacefully sleeping on her side of the booth.

Nik frantically searched for Caroline. He made his way to dance floor pushing and shoving people that were blocking his way. The longer her searched for her, the more his panic grew. He doesn't know why but the thought of his female housemate going home with a complete stranger bother him. It was driving him crazy.

Before he could even think about giving up, he saw a perky blonde in the arms of another man.

"Caroline!" Nik yelled hoping to get the blonde's attention.

Caroline quickly turned around and let go of her companion's hand, "Hello, Nik, this is my new friend Galen Vaughn. He's taking me to his apartment." Caroline said in between hiccups.

"Don't you think that's a bad idea Caroline? Going home with a complete stranger?" Nik yelled as he pulled Caroline away from Galen.

"No Nik! He's taking me to the city and I miss it so much!" Caroline whined.

"Is this guy bothering you?" Galen interrupted.

"Leave us alone, I live with Caroline and I'm taking her home." Nik said shoving Galen away from Caroline.

"She didn't mention living with anyone." Galen questioned.

"Galen, this is one of my roommates Nik. I can introduce you to the other two but they're not here." Caroline said clinging to Galen's arms.

"You live with three men?" Galen asked the drunken Caroline. Caroline simply nodded and proceeded to drag Galen out of the club, ignoring Nik's protests.

Galen stopped Caroline from dragging him outside and cupped her cheeks. "Listen Caroline, I'm sorry for getting you drunk tonight. You seem like a sweet girl and I would like to get to know you better before all of this. Right now I just think your roommates can take care of you better. I'm leaving you my card, call me anytime." Galen said before placing a kiss on Caroline's forehead and making his way out of the club.

Caroline watched as Galen left her. Before it could even sink into her thoughts, Nik pulled her to the direction of Stefan and Katherine.

"Let me go Nik! This is your fault!" Caroline cried.

"Caroline, I was just trying to help you." Nik defended.

"No! No! No! You can't decide for me. You ruined my chances of starting over." Caroline sobbed, pushing Nik away from her.

"You barely knew him, and I was only looking out for you. Your friend is really worried about you." Nik said as he pulled Caroline into a hug allowing her to cry.

"Kat? Is she okay?" Caroline asked letting go of Nik's embrace.

"She's fine. She just wants to see her friend with her and not with some stranger." Nik assured.

Nik led her to the booth wherein Stefan and Katherine stayed. Katherine was still passed out on the leather seat opposite of Stefan. Stefan on the other hand, kept an eye out on his companion while sipping his drink.

Stefan sighed in relief seeing Nik with Caroline tagging along. "Thank god you found her. Are you okay Caroline?"

Caroline nodded and proceeded to lift Katherine from hogging the whole seat of the booth. "Hey Kat, wake up. It's me Caroline."

Katherine woke up to the sound of her best friend calling her. She was relieved that

Caroline didn't go home with some stranger.

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up in the bathroom and go home okay?" Caroline said.

Katherine nodded and struggled to get up from the booth with a little help from Caroline. As Caroline helped Katherine get up, she made eye-to-eye contact with the last person she wanted to see.

"Is that you Care? You've been dodging my calls all week." The man asked approaching their booth.

"Go away Tyler!" Caroline yelled.

She saw Stefan and Nik turn their heads in her direction at the mention of the forbidden name. It would only be a matter of time before they realized he was the same guy who cheated on her.

"Let me help you Care, I'll bring you and Katherine home." Tyler said approaching Caroline and helping her lift Katherine.

"I don't need your help Tyler! Just leave us alone," Caroline yelled once again.

"You're not serious are you? You need me and you know it. How many more days can you take living with Katherine in Williamsburg?" Tyler scoffed.

"I can handle myself. I found a place in Long Island and she's my best friend Tyler, you can't say those things about her." Caroline snapped.

"She's your baggage, Caroline. Always leeching onto you and never allowing you to have fun."

Before Caroline could defend her best friend, Tyler pulled her away from Katherine.

"Let go of me Tyler!" Caroline yelped as Tyler's grip on her wrist tightened.

"I'm sorry about Kat. Can we please just talk about us? I'll buy us drinks." Tyler begged but still holding Caroline's wrist tight.

"Stop it, you're hurting me." Caroline shrieked.

Nik watched the scene and he couldn't handle seeing Caroline in pain, he stood up from his seat, clenched his fist and punched Tyler.

Tyler immediately fell to the floor on his knees. He stood up quickly and returned Nik's punch. He hit Nik's jaw and bloodied Nik's mouth, causing blood to trickle down. Before the fight could get any worse, Stefan stood up and pulled Tyler off Nik. Once Nik was up, he glanced over at Tyler who was still lying on the floor with a bruise on his eye. Nik smirked and gestured to Stefan to look after Caroline and Katherine.

"Look mate, I suggest you leave Caroline alone." Nik said crouching near Tyler.

"Who the hell are you?" Tyler scoffed.

"I live with Caroline." Nik said before standing up leaving a battered Tyler on the floor.

"Stefan, get Damon. We'll wait for you outside." Nik commanded.

Nik led the way outside of the club as he helped Caroline assist Katherine. Caroline was silent not even bothering to look at Nik. Once they were at the parking lot, Caroline finally broke her silence.

"What was that all about?" Caroline asked.

"He was hurting you Caroline, I had to do something."

"I had it all under control Nik; I don't need you punching anyone for me." Caroline replied.

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?" Nik hissed.

Caroline sighed and rolled her eyes. "Thank you." She rummaged her purse and got a clean white handkerchief and dabbed it on Nik's cut. "But you really shouldn't have."

* * *

And that's it for this chapter. Comments? Suggestions? Reactions? Let me know by leaving a review! Until the next the chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I managed to write this chapter despite having a busy schedule. This chapter is also longer than usual and I'm planning to keep it at this length or more from now on. Let me know what you think! Lastly, this story managed to read **50 reviews! **Thank you so much to also those who left me comments/criticisms it really means a lot to me and it motivates me to write even more. Thank you also to Marsterroo for being my beta. Alright, I won't make this long anymore, happy reading and I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter!

* * *

She continued to dab her white handkerchief on Nik's cut hoping to stop the bleeding. As she held onto her dozing friend as well as aiding Nik, she thought about how horrible this night had turned. She felt guilty for dragging her roommates and Katherine into her mess. Damon would probably be pissed at her for having Stefan interrupt whatever he was doing with a lady he had picked up from the club. She sighed silently in her thoughts, but before she could feel any guiltier, Damon and Stefan rushed to her side.

"Well, I owe you for this one Blondie." Damon said, grabbing Katherine off Caroline's arms and triggering the alarm in his car opening the door for all of them.

"Wait. You mean you're not mad?" Caroline gasped.

"Mad? No! I was grinding with this chick unfortunately she has a jealous boyfriend and the dude was about to throw a fit at me. Luckily, baby brother here pulled me out of the crowd and told me what happened. We ran outside as fast as we could." Damon explained animatedly.

"Thank you, although I'm really sorry for ruining everyone's night." She turned around and gave everyone an apologetic look.

"It's cool, Care. We've been through a whole lot worse." Stefan assured, patting her on the back and helping her get inside the car.

Damon started the car as soon as everyone was settled and buckled up. He looked in the rearview mirror catching Caroline's gaze.

"So, are we dropping off your friend? Or you know, she can stay with us at the loft. There's an extra room there." Damon smirked.

"Ummm. I think it's best for Kat to be at her place, she still needs to check in on the firm on Saturdays."

"Alright then, lead the way Blondie." Damon said, steering the wheel and driving them to Katherine's apartment.

"And we're here."

Nik and Damon looked around their surroundings obviously not used to the scene in Williamsburg. The place was filled with walls of graffiti and homeless gypsies lurking around. This is obviously not the safest place in New York at night. The duo decided to help Caroline get Katherine out of the car and bring her safely inside her apartment.

"Do you need any help?" Nik offered.

"Yeah sure, thanks." Caroline replied, avoiding Nik's intense stare.

"Alright, me and Stefan will just grab some tacos real fast, want anything Blondie?" Damon asked, unknowingly cockblocking Nik and Caroline.

"No thank you." Caroline replied.

Nik carried Katherine in bridal style silently as he watched Caroline lead the way and admired her from behind. Once they reached Katherine's floor, he brought her left arm to his shoulder while Caroline took the other. He watched Caroline struggle to search for Katherine's key inside her purse and once she found it she immediately opened the door for them to come inside.

"You can put her in bed, down the hall… gently please." Caroline said before she made her way to the kitchen to make some tea. "Do you want anything?"

"I'm good, but thanks. We wouldn't want to keep the brothers waiting." Nik replied after he left Katherine sleeping soundly on her bed. "We should get going now."

"I was thinking of spending the night with Kat, you know to make sure she wakes up on time for work and all that. I'll be home tomorrow morning. Send my regards to Stefan and Damon."

"Yes of course, I'll see you tomorrow love. Or if you're technical about it, I'll see you later." Nik chuckled as he made his way to the door.

"Thank you again Nik even though it wasn't necessary." Caroline smiled. "Take care of that wound of yours." She said wiping the blood that trickled down Nik's wound before closing and locking the door behind him.

* * *

The morning after the hectic night, Caroline was up early. She decided to make breakfast for her and Katherine. Once she was done, she went back to her friend's room to check up on her only to notice that the bed was empty and Katherine was already awake.

"Good morning sunshine, you're up early," Caroline said enthusiastically, while leaning on the doorframe.

"My head is throbbing. What happened last night?" Katherine groaned.

"Come on, we'll discuss this over breakfast and let's get you ready for work," Caroline said, dragging Katherine out of her room and into the kitchen.

* * *

"So all that happened last night?" Katherine asked in surprise.

"It was pretty intense. I'm just glad Damon and the others weren't mad at me for spoiling their night," Caroline sighed.

"Tell me about it. Although I'm really sorry about Tyler, I wish I would have been there for you to kick his butt," Katherine said, while chewing on her bacon.

"It's fine. Nik took care of him anyway."

"Speaking of, what's the deal between you two anyway?" Katherine furrowed her brow.

"Nothing! I barely know Nik, he's nothing but a housemate," Caroline choked on her orange juice upon hearing Katherine's question.

"I see the way he looks at you Care, I'm pretty sure he considers you more than a housemate." She snickered.

"You have a wild imagination Kat, it's nothing like that." Caroline rolled her eyes and stood up from her seat, grabbing Katherine's plate and placing them in the sink. "You should get ready for work."

While Katherine was in the bathroom taking a shower, Caroline rummaged through her friend's closet for something to wear. She wanted to visit the firm and drop off Lexi's favorite latte as a little thank you gift for referring her to the loft. She found a sheer sleeveless top, and medium-washed jeans. Smiling she grabbed her outfit of the day.

Patiently waiting for Katherine to get out of the bathroom, she searched her purse to look for a certain business card. She found what she was looking for and held onto it tightly. It read _Galen Vaughn, Senior Partner at Saltzman & Sommers._ She was looking at the number written on the card and contemplating if she should give him a call. She was slowly dialing his number on her phone but erased it immediately, thinking about what happened last night, she figured he didn't want anything to do with her. Before she could do anything she'd regret, Katherine interrupted her thoughts.

"Are you going to use the bathroom?" Katherine asked, as she dried her hair.

"Yep. I borrowed some clothes, I hope you don't mind." Caroline sheepishly smiled at her friend.

When Caroline was done getting ready, she and Katherine went on their way to the law firm. They both decided to take a cab, as they were both too tired to get shoved in the subway. Caroline told the driver to drop her off the nearby coffee shop hoping to grab some coffee for Katherine and Lexi. Once she got her order, she went up to the law firm Lexi and Katherine worked at.

"Good morning Dana, can I drop something off for Katherine and Lexi?" Caroline greeted the floor's secretary.

"Sure thing Caroline," Dana smiled, letting Caroline come inside.

Caroline looked around the floor, seeing all the busy associates and paralegals carrying heavy files and obviously lacking sleep. This familiar scenario reminded her of all those times she would visit Tyler at his firm. All these lawyers roaming around made her think about her ex-boyfriend and their encounter last night even more. She was fighting the urge to cry as her emotions began to overwhelm her. Before she could even breakdown to tears a familiar accent and voice called her name.

"Caroline, it's a surprise seeing you here." The Scottish accent said.

"Galen… Hi." Caroline replied shyly.

"What brings you here? Surely you're not interested in the law scene." Galen chuckled as he admired the bashful blonde in front of him.

"I was just dropping these off for my friends and then I'll be on my way." Caroline said, pointing at the coffee carrier she was holding.

"I was actually on my way out too. How about we grab some lunch?" Galen asked.

"Uhhh yeah sure… I guess lunch sounds nice. Let me just drop these off." Caroline agreed.

"Excellent. I'll meet you down in the lobby," Galen smiled as he mouthed a "see you later to her."

Caroline went on her way to Katherine and Lexi's cubicle trying to hide her slight excitement with her impromptu lunch with Galen. She briskly walked around the floor's hallway sighing in relief as she finally reached their cubicle.

"That took you long enough," Lexi said, grabbing the coffee carrier from Caroline's hand and taking her drink. "Thanks for this Care."

"No problem Lexi, thanks for referring me to Stefan. The boardinghouse is great!" Caroline smiled, taking the last coffee from the carrier and placing it on Katherine's table.

"No problem girly, let's grab some lunch with Stef and Kat soon okay?" Lexi winked before getting back to her work.

Caroline was about to be on her way to meet with Galen when she bumped into Katherine.

"Why were you talking to that Scottish guy from last night?" Katherine interrogated as she cornered her.

"He saw me delivering your coffee and he approached me." Caroline raised her arms in defense.

"I have a bad feeling about that guy Care, remember he got us drunk last night and he was planning on taking you to his apartment." Katherine warned her.

"Relax Kat. I know last night was crazy but nothing happened between us. We were just going to grab some lunch. I promise you I'll go straight home afterwards," Caroline responded to her friend's warning.

"I'm just looking out for you. Remember the last person you dated was a lawyer and look how that turned out," Katherine warned again.

"Wow that's really sensitive of you." Caroline rolled her eyes. "I appreciate you caring for me but I can handle this okay. You should get back to your work," She scoffed and made her way out of the law firm as soon as possible leaving a speechless Katherine behind her.

Upon reaching the lobby, Caroline searched for her ruggedly handsome and charming companion. Before her eyes could wander any farther, she saw him patiently waiting for her on one of the lounges. As soon as she saw him, she smiled and walked towards him.

"I was thinking you weren't going to show up," Galen said as he stood up to greet Caroline.

"Sorry, I got held up," Caroline explained.

"No worries, let's get going." Galen said extending his arm to Caroline for her to hold onto.

Galen led Caroline to his car. He opened and closed the door for his bombshell companion.

"So Caroline, you're a New Yorker, where's the best place to eat here?" Galen asked.

Caroline smiled and lunged forward to the driver's seat and whispered to his chauffeur where they were going. The chauffeur nodded and immediately started the engine to take them to their destination.

The ride was silent and Galen grew curious as to where Caroline planned on taking him. He stared at his companion on his right and admired how serene she looked while she was looking out the window. He wanted to hold her hand immediately but he didn't want to scare the blonde away. Before his thoughts could wander to what else he wanted to do to Caroline, he was caught off guard when his companion excitedly yelled.

"We're here! Mr. Chauffeur can drop us here." Caroline clasped her hands and immediately unlocked the door.

Galen was amused with his companion and smiled to himself. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door for Caroline.

"Central park huh? This is a nice choice, Caroline. Where are we eating? Italian? French? Japanese?" Galen laughed.

"Better than all the things you said!" Caroline giggled and grabbed Galen's hand dragging him to the park.

"A hotdog stand?" Galen said in shock.

"Don't say it like that! Central Park has the best hotdogs in the state. And it's supposed to be the first thing you ever try when you go to New York," Caroline said enthusiastically.

"I trust your instinct on this," Galen replied, getting the hotdogs and paying the vendor.

Caroline led Galen to one of the benches in Central Park so they could eat their meal while they enjoyed the surroundings around them. As they sat down on their bench, she watched Galen with an intense stare as he took a bite of his first Central Park hotdog, Caroline patiently waited to see his reaction.

"This is really good, Caroline," Galen said after he swallowed his first bite.

"I told you so!" Caroline exclaimed as if she just won an award.

As they continued their lunch, they also talked about the things going on in their lives. Galen explained how he used to live in London and worked in one of the most prestigious law firms but was transferred here to New York. When it was Caroline's turn, she told him about her quest of living an independent life and her settlement at the boardinghouse outside the city.

Caroline looked at her watch and noticed how long they had been sitting on the bench. She quickly stood up from her seat almost spilling her drink.

"I didn't notice it was so late already. I had a great time but I really should get going," Caroline explained.

"I had a lovely time too, Caroline. I can give you a ride back to the suburbs," Galen offered.

"Thank you, but I think I'm in the mood for the subway," Caroline responded as she threw her trash in the garbage bin.

"Nonsense. It would be rude of me not to bring you home, after taking so much of your time," Galen insisted.

Caroline knew that it was useless to argue with him, and simply nodded following him back to his car. Caroline gave his chauffeur the directions to the boardinghouse and he immediately drove outside the city. She smiled at Galen, thanking him for his kind gesture and in return he held her hand and she didn't seem to mind.

After a few minutes, they finally reached the loft and before Caroline could open the door for herself, being the gentleman that he was, Galen opened the door for her. He even walked her to the front door.

"Thank you for today Caroline. I had a really wonderful time. Maybe we could do this again, over dinner?" Galen asked.

She just blushed at his question and simply nodded. "I think that'll be great. Here's my number." She grabbed his phone from his pocket, causing him to flinch at her daring move and punched in her number. "I guess I'll see you soon then?"

"Most definitely," Galen replied, softly kissing Caroline on the cheek and smirking at himself as soon as he noticed the blonde blushing.

"I… I should get inside," Caroline said, trying her best to hide the flush in her cheeks.

Caroline closed the door behind her and was eager to go inside her room for a well-deserved rest. But as soon as she got inside the loft, she immediately saw one of her roommates who looked like he had been waiting for her the whole afternoon.

"Whose car was that?" Nik hissed.

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Nik," Caroline replied sarcastically, ignoring her housemate's tone as she made her way to her room.

"Your friend called. She was looking for you," Nik said, sipping his bourbon.

"I'll give her a call later, and isn't it too early for you to be drinking that stuff?" Caroline asked trying to hide the bottle of bourbon from her housemate.

"Oh come on Caroline, loosen up a bit. I liked you better when you were intoxicated last night," Nik laughed, stealing his bourbon back from Caroline.

"Fine, do what you want Nik," she yelled, surrendering the bottle of alcohol to him. "Where are Stefan and Damon anyway?"

"Damon is god knows where, and Stefan's off dealing with one of his charities," He replied.

"Don't you ever get tired of just staying at home doing absolutely nothing?" Caroline questioned, approaching her housemate closer and sitting next to him on the couch.

"On the contrary love, I've been pretty busy lately," Nik replied arrogantly.

"And what is occupying the great ol' Teflon slacker?" Caroline said, imitating Nik's accent.

"I can show you if you want," Nik said, standing up and gesturing for Caroline to come follow him upstairs.

Caroline had nothing better to do so she decided to follow Nik upstairs. As she walked behind him, she felt nervous and felt her cheeks heating up. Nik was leading her to his bedroom. Before Caroline could have any more dirty thoughts about her housemate, Nik opened the door, revealing what he had been up to.

Caroline gasped at the beauty in front of her. Nik's room was filled with canvases, paint and unfinished paintings. She slowly went inside and touched the finished work on Nik's table.

"Did you do all of these?" Caroline asked, shock evident in her tone.

"I also did the Central Park painting in the living room, not that you would notice," Nik replied sadly.

"Well they're really beautiful. Are you going to sell them?" Caroline asked again.

"Sort of, I'm holding a gallery show a few months from now, let's just hope someone will be interested in buying all of these," Nik responded.

"Why don't you transfer your art show to London? I'm pretty sure you'll get a lot more exposure there? Besides, a lot of hipsters have their own work going on in this city, you'd be surprised by the number of curators buying their shitty work," Caroline suggested.

"Well, I'm tired of impressing the same curators over and over again in London. I think I want a challenge this time," Nik smirked.

"Wow, arrogant much," Caroline laughed.

Caroline continued to survey Nik's room and the rest of his paintings. His room wasn't particularly tidy but she figured it suited his artistic personality. She browsed the stack of paintings found in the corner of his room and admired it. As she continued lifting and browsing the rest of Nik's paintings she found something that caught her eye.

She was holding a medium sized canvas with a lone wolf howling painted on it. Caroline couldn't really tell why, but out of all the paintings she'd seen from Nik, this was her absolute favorite.

"Found something that you like?" Nik asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess this one's my favorite out of all your works here," she replied, lifting the wolf painting for him to see.

"Now why on earth would you like that?" Nik asked again.

"I can't tell either, I guess there's something lonely about it," Caroline responded. She noticed how Nik's expression changed from curiosity to sadness and he immediately gulped down the remaining contents of his drink.

"I'm sorry, I think I hit a nerve there," She apologized, placing the painting back in the stack.

"No it's alright. If you like that painting so much why don't you keep it?" Nik offered.

"You're giving me one of your paintings… for free?" Caroline replied, her eyes gleaming in enthusiasm.

"Sure, I wasn't planning on adding that painting to my gallery anyway," Nik shrugged.

Caroline was absolutely thrilled and grabbed the painting again rushing to Nik's side about to give him a hug. But she stopped on her track only to realize the small space between them. Katherine's words from this morning rang inside her head, _I see the way he looks at you Care, I'm pretty sure he considers you more than a housemate._She could feel his breath and his smell lingered on her nose. She suddenly felt so weak in the knees, getting lost in his musky scent. She was about to close the gap between them when her phone rang.

Upon hearing Caroline's phone ringing, Nik let out a frustrated sigh. He also noticed how Caroline cursed when she saw the caller I.D. of the person who interrupted them.

She ignored the call and seconds later; her phone was bombarded with numerous text messages.

"You should answer that love, wouldn't want to keep your date from this afternoon waiting." Nik said, trying his best to hide the jealously in his voice.

"It's just Tyler, God, why can't he just stop bothering me?" Caroline yelled in frustration. "And to think I still have a bunch of my things in his apartment," she groaned.

"I could help you get it back from him, Caroline," Nik offered.

"Well, I really could use someone to carry my things," Caroline laughed. "Are you free tomorrow morning?" She asked.

"Need I remind you that I'm a Teflon slacker?" Nik smiled. "Of course, I'd be willing to accompany you, wouldn't want you getting lost in the city." Nik joked, pinching Caroline's arm.

Caroline shoved Nik's grip from her arm. "I happen to know the city, Nik, I just need you for your car." Caroline huffed, turning her back on Nik and making her way to her bedroom across the hall.

"And you better wake up early tomorrow!" Caroline yelled from across the hallway.

* * *

And that's it for this chapter! Please do take time to review as I would really like to know what you guys think or if you have any suggestions. You can also find me on tumber at xxblondieblueeyes and on twitter as teenurweenur. Thanks again for tuning in to this story!


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